ASX- and TSX-V-listed Mont Royal Resources has signed a joint study agreement with US-based Alta Resource Technologies to evaluate a technical pathway for processing mixed rare earth carbonates produced from Mont Royal's Ashram project, in Québec, into separate high-purity rare earth oxides.

The companies will assess the potential for a commercial refining facility, with the joint study agreement intended as an initial step toward a potential joint venture to support long-term production of North American rare earth oxides for permanent magnets and advanced technologies.

Alta's recent industry collaborations include a partnering agreement with the world's largest non-ferrous metals smelter Korea Zinc, which aims to establish a US-based rare earths recycling joint venture producing commercial neodymium and praseodymium (NdPr) oxide and others from end-of-life magnets by 2027.

Mont Royal MD Nicholas Holthouse says the company is pleased to work with Alta on this next step in the development pathway for Ashram, particularly as the company assesses opportunities to capture more of the value contained within the Ashram resource.

"Our current focus on producing a mixed rare earth carbonate remains a practical and lower-risk development strategy for the Ashram project. However, the ability to take that product further downstream and potentially produce separated, high-purity rare earth oxides in North America represents a significant opportunity for Mont Royal.

"Working with Alta brings an innovative separation technology and specialist expertise which could provide a pathway for us to achieve that without Mont Royal having to develop the capability independently," Holthouse points out. 

In turn, Alta co-founder and CEO Nathan Ratledge says Mont Royal has a world-class resource and the expertise to extract it, while Alta has a separation technology purpose-built for valorizing complex mixtures of rare earth elements. "Together, we will provide a durable North American rare earth supply chain necessary for Western manufacturers to produce permanent magnets and advanced technologies."

The Ashram project is expected to produce 4 035 t/y of NdPr oxide and is also rich in heavy rare earths such as dysprosium, terbium, samarium, europium, gadolinium and yttrium.